Biased Poll Pollutes Public Debate

Beware the wording of poll questions, because they can turn black into white… and public opinion into nonsense.

Exhibit A:

An Annapolis-based public opinion research firm yesterday released a poll that was paid for by the Maryland State Builders Association.  This special interest group is lobbying hard to undermine new stormwater pollution control regulations that would improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

Wouldn’t you know it?  The builders’ poll concluded that the public doesn’t really want what’s in the public  interest: clean water.  What the public really wants is what is in the development industry’s interest: fewer regulations.

Of course, that’s not exactly how the builders’ poll phrased the question.  They constructed it as a question of job creation vs. environmental regulations. 

 And because of this faulty construction, this was the conclusion:  “Statewide, 77% think the higher priority should be taking steps to create jobs and improve Maryland’s economy, while 15% think the higher priority should be taking steps to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay,” the poll concluded.

Here’s the exact words the polling firm asked people:

“Which do you think should be a higher priority for Governor Martin O’Malley’s administration right now?

• Taking steps to create jobs and improve Maryland’s economy, or
• Taking steps to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.”

What’s wrong with this question?  It creates a false conflict between a clean environment and a healthy economy.  In fact, reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay improves the state’s economy.  Clean water is vital to the seafood industry in Maryland, among many other sectors. Even in its depleted condition, the seafood industry still contributes an estimated $400 million a year to the state’s economy, according to a joint federal and state report. 

Look at crabbing alone.  A Chesapeake Bay Foundation report last year concluded that water pollution problems in the Bay contributed to a cumulative $640 million in losses for crabbing-related businesses  around the Bay over the previous decade.

There are also huge recreational fishing, boating and tourism industries to consider – with at least 700,000 recreational anglers in Maryland, and 200,000 boats, according to the federal and state report. More than 1.5 million people a year in the state enjoy wildlife tourism.

What about all these jobs?  Gutting Maryland’s stormwater pollution control regulations (as the builders would like) would destroy employment in all of these areas, not add jobs.

And then there’s the bigger picture:  People want to buy houses and invest in businesses in healthy areas where they can swim, fish, and enjoy a high quality of life.  Nobody wants to buy a waterfront home with a reek of a fishkill wafting in the kitchen window.  Businesses prosper and grow if employers can lure and retain employees with a beautiful place to live.

So here’s how the question should have been phrased:

“Which do you think should be a higher priority for Governor Martin O’Malley’s administration right now?

• Improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, which would create jobs in tourism and the seafood industry and boost the state’s quality of life and real-estate values? Or,

• Helping developers avoid pollution control rules to boost their profit margins?"
 
I suspect that question would have produced a slightly different poll result.

 

 

Comments

[Sustainable Living]

Pollution is a hard thing to digest...so we have to light up our Environment....
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health-Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts

[BC Wilson]

Tom, looking at the actual poll question, it would seem to have nothing to do with the builders association at all. How can they claim that the option to "take steps to create jobs and improve Maryland’s economy" is exactly the same as "Don't regulate stormwater runoff from the building industry." It's a false choice all around. More and more in this country we seem to be faced with these false choices, where artificially-generated fear is used by the established interests to steer people away from choices that would benefit the public. I'm really really sick of it. Thanks for pointing this out. Keep up the good work.

[john]

Tom, Nice work getting the word out. I can't read a poll anymore without thinking why it was made in the first place...
Do we think polls are primarily:
a) a way to force a false sense of consensus
or
b) all of the above